LIT­TLE BLACK BOOK

RUTH Macken­zie is di­rec­tor of London’s 2012 Fes­ti­val, a 12-week Bri­tain-wide cul­tural cel­e­bra­tion timed to co­in­cide with the Olympic and Par­a­lympic Games and fea­tur­ing lead­ing artists from across the world. In 1995 she was awarded an OBE for her ser­vices to theatre. More: fes­ti­val.lon­don2012.com. Mem­o­rable hol­i­day mo­ment: Visit Tino Sehgal from Ber­lin as he cre­ates his largest artis­tic com­mis­sion to date at the Tate Mod­ern’s Tur­bine Hall from July 24 to Oc­to­ber 28. Favourite shop­ping haunt: I like Bor­ough Mar­ket, near the River Thames in south­east London, or my lo­cal Is­ling­ton Farm­ers DEALS OF THE WEEK Tales of Turkey: Sail the Aegean coast from Bo­drum for a leisurely week aboard a tra­di­tional gulet; from $433 a per­son twin-share (in a cabin with pri­vate fa­cil­i­ties), plus Greek and Turk­ish meals. Weekly depar­tures May 5 to Oc­to­ber 21. More: hol­i­daystoeu­rope. com.au/spe­cials. Mar­ket, held ev­ery Sun­day morn­ing (for great food and clever gifts). Must re­visit ex­pe­ri­ence: The Bri­tish Mu­seum, where many world trea­sures are dis­played in one build­ing. It’s free, of course, like all London’s na­tional mu­se­ums. Ju­bilee jaunt: Book a seven-day In­sight Va­ca­tions London Week tour, which cov­ers lead­ing city sights such as Buck­ing­ham Palace and the Houses of Par­lia­ment; from $925 a per­son twin-share in­clud­ing accommodation, break­fasts and sight­see­ing. Flights ex­tra. Depar­tures un­til March 2013. More: in­sight­va­ca­tions.com.au. Ul­ti­mate in­dul­gence: Laduree, next to the Royal Academy on Pic­cadilly, is an ex­trav­a­gant pas­try brand fresh from Paris. Don’t miss its melt-in-your mouth mac­arons. Stand-out bar ex­pe­ri­ence: Try the bar at the East End’s gor­geous Hack­ney Em­pire theatre. Bet­ter still, en­joy a show here — the au­di­to­rium is even love­lier than the bar. Invit­ing place to dine: St John Bread and Wine at Spi­tal­fields in London serves ta­pas-style dishes. Ex­pect mod­ern Bri­tish food and a great at­mos­phere. Best-spent hol­i­day dol­lars: Buy an Oys­ter Card for sim­ple and af­ford­able ac­cess to London’s public trans­port. Asian ad­ven­ture: Book be­fore March 31 for free re­turn flights on a 23-day June or Au­gust Viet­nam and Cam­bo­dia Ex­plorer hol­i­day with Travel As­so­ciates. Ex­plore Hanoi, Hoi An and Angkor, and cruise the Mekong for seven nights; from $8795 a per­son twin-share, in­clud­ing meals and ho­tels. More: travel-as­so­ciates.com.au.